Pura Vida

HEY Everyone!
I know I said all my posts would be in Spanish and then in English so I could practice, but I don't have a ton of time today, but I wanted to keep you all updated. So here goes:
Two weekends ago the ISA group went to Arenal Volcano. It is an active volcano and we even got to see the top glow orange at night, although there were no eruptions while we were there. My roommate and I, Maree, got up early early and watched the Sunrise on Sunday morning. It was beautiful. We could see across Arenal Valley and even Arenal Lake. Que bonito! We bathed in the hot springs, tried out the waterslides and just had a relaxing time.

Last week was a bit crazy. One night, Maree and I were on our way to dance class and two guys pulled up on a motorbike, one hopped off, asked us for our money (we didn't have any cause we were just going to dance) and patted our pockets down. It was not a great experience and Maree and I turned around and went home. We're a lot more cautious now, and way more aware that we are in a big city, even though it may not look like we are all the time (there are not many high rise buildings or anything like that). I've been taking way more taxis everywhere, even to get home from school, because it's about a 20 minute walk. Taxis here are cheap. I can get most places for 2 or 3 bucks at the most (which is 1000 or 1500 colones). I'm a bit shaken up, but other than that just fine. I'm glad an incident like that made me more aware of my surroundings, instead of having something else more drastic happen.

Last weekend, about 15 or 20 of us decided to go to Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean Coast, near Panama. It's the border town. We had a 5 hour bus ride there (merely $10) and we were in paradise. Beaches, and just a bunch of fun. It is a small Rastafarian town with a lot of Jamiacan influnce that is very obvious when going down the streets. The whole town lines the beach. It's all dirt roads too. We stayed in a hostel called Rocking J's. Only 6 dollars a night. What a deal! There were some bugs and such, but with bug spray most of us only got bitten a small amount of times. Saturday consisted of finding bikes to rent for the day and cruising the town in our swimming suits (it's really hot and REALLY humid, we were sweating the whole time we were there) and then finding a spot on the wonderful beach to hang out for the afternoon. We played in the water and laid around for a few hours and then I returned with a couple of the girls I was with to the hostel to take a nap in the hammocks that were on the beach. It was the best nap I've ever taken. We watched a lightening storm roll in across the Caribbean and went dancing; then we called it a night.

I started work at the Orphanage yesterday. It is more like a YMCA type of thing though. Daycare for kids who need it. There's a psychologist (or a few) that work with the kids too. I'm working with Mariala and the 4 and 5 year olds. They are adorable, and one of my favorite ages of kids anyway. We fingerpainted yesterday, had snack and then played. The kids favorite games are, run the plastic cars into each other (similar to the driving style here) and pile up on the slide. It was wonderful and I can't wait to go back next week.

Classes are coming along nicely. I had a Photography test today and I have my Spanish final tomorrow. I'm taking 3 Spanish classes while I'm here, and tomorrow is the last day of the first one, which means I'm a third of the way done. I can't believe it. Crazy. I feel like I'm just getting settled. I'll start taking Advanced 1 next week.

My roommate is sick from last weekend, as are 6 or so other people that went. It is a huge blessing that I am not sick and that I have had a really great week. I'm starting to really enjoy it here, and feel more at home and more like I live here. At the same time, it will be nice to get back to the states in December.

Hope you are all doing well.
Mucho Amor,
Britney